If politicians practice the austerity they preach, we will be better
off. They speak of cost-cutting measures unremittingly, but don't seem
to follow most of them, especially when it comes to electioneering.

If politicians practice the austerity they preach, we will be better off. They speak of cost-cutting measures unremittingly, but don't seem to follow most of them, especially when it comes to electioneering.

A whopping Rs 100 crore is the money what candidates are likely to spend during the upcoming Delhi Assembly election - a litmus test for both the Congress and the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Entry of Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into the poll fray has only made the battle tougher. Given the stake involved, the candidates are going to leave no stone unturned to claim victory as the state's big political event is going to see the flow of a lot of illegal money.

To get an idea about the money spent on the polls by candidates, Mail Today talked to a few legislators from both the main political parties in the National Capital - the Congress and the BJP.Heavy expenditure

According to them, a candidate will have to shell out an amount between Rs 50 lakh and Rs70 lakh during the election. A Congress legislator said a candidate spent Rs 40-50 lakh in the 2008 Assembly election. And to ensure victory, those in the poll fray will have to splurge around Rs70 lakh each this time, he said.

A senior electoral officer told Mail Today that a candidate was allowed to spend only Rs 16 lakh during the Assembly election in Delhi.

A total of 875 candidates had contested from 70 Assembly constituencies in the 2008 Assembly election. Owing to the AAP's entry, the number may cross the 900 mark this election. "However, every candidate does not spend that much money. A few candidates get tickets only for the record. They know they can't win the polls and spend minimum money required for the campaigning," said a BJP MLA.The main fight

In Delhi, the main fight is between the BJP and the Congress though the BSP also fields candidates in most of the constituencies. The AAP, too, has made it clear that its candidates will contest from all 70 seats.

"In most cases, candidates from only BJP and Congress will incur heavy expenditure. Some BSP candidates, who are very rich, spend money freely even if they know that the fight is going to be tough.

In the 2009 general election, two BSP candidates had declared assets worth Rs 100 crore," the BJP legislator added.

Four special teams to watch poll expenses

Four teams have been constituted by the Delhi Election Commission as part of its multi-pronged measures to crackdown on candidates indulging in over-expenditure during the upcoming Assembly elections.

Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly is due in November. Static surveillance team, flying squad team, video surveillance team and video viewing team will keep a close watch on polling activities across the city, Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, Vijay Dev said.

"Officials will videograph vehicles used for poll campaign besides spending on food and meetings, distribution of pamphlets and putting up of posters, banners and hoardings. It is for the first time that monitoring of expenditure will be done by these special teams," he said.

While the flying squads accompanied by the police will monitor the polling activities, surveillance team shall videograph all the events, movements and conduct of the candidates. Members of the video viewing team will then scan the recorded footage to find out any poll related discrepancy.

Moreover, officials of the expenditure monitoring team will maintain a "dummy or shadow" register having details of poll expenses of each candidate. They will find the rates of items, used for campaigning, from market to determine the amount of money spent by candidates.

"We will compare our registers with those submitted by candidates. Every detail will be matched and in case of discrepancies, action will be taken," Dev said.

Our officials will be stern when it comes to handling irregularities in the upcoming assembly elections, he said. "We are going to be tough on those indulging in any illegal activity... whether it is expenditure-related or anything else. We appeal to all the candidates to spend within the limit else strict action will follow," he added.

Although there is a provision for disqualification of candidates by the chief election commissioner, but it has hardly been used in electoral history. "Even a candidate who has won the election can be disqualified by the Election Commission. We will analyse the video footage after the elections and legal action will be taken after that," a senior electoral officer said.

Election officials said they have also planned to preserve video footage this time, as it will help in proving charges while pursuing a case of disqualification.

The Commission plans to conduct a meeting next week for the prospective party candidates. "A meeting will be held with all the candidates and they will be told about all the rules and norms of the Election Commission. They will also be told about the legal actions," the officer said.